Category Archives: art

Goddess of the Night

Posted by melydia on February 16, 2016 1 comments

One of the cool things about Journal52 is that there are often little bonuses with the weekly prompts. Week 4 included a mini class (more like a paint-along) which was originally part of Effy‘s online class Moonshine 2014.

This is one of those pieces that I could spend a long time explaining what went wrong but honestly, I spent a random Wednesday evening making this instead of watching TV or reading Facebook, so I’ll call it a win. Really, any filled sketchbook page is an achievement, no matter how it turns out.

The idea here is that this is a stylized self-portrait as goddess of the night. It was an interesting exercise in (1) drawing using someone else’s techniques and (2) trying out all kinds of new materials together. For example, this was my first attempt at acrylics and wow did I ever make a mess (and that was before I knocked over my water glass). I also discovered that I really like opaque inks, like the gel pens, metallic markers, and white pigment marker.

All in all, I think I like her. It feels good to do something different from time to time.

Materials: Artist’s Loft acrylic paints, Windsor & Newton pigment markers, Prismacolor markers, Copic markers, assorted gel pens, pencil, American Crafts metallic markers, Stabilo point 88 pen.

Journal52 – Week 3

Posted by melydia on February 15, 2016 None comments

Though I first subscribed to the weekly prompts from Journal52 back at the beginning of 2014, this year I’ve actually started doing them.

You may have noticed this is week 3. That’s intentional. I’m only sharing the ones I’m particularly pleased with.

Anyway, this year there are two prompts each week, always related in some fashion, and week 3 was either your favorite David Bowie lyric (since he’d just passed away), or favorite song lyric in general. I don’t really have any favorite lyrics, Bowie or otherwise, but I’ve always liked the concept of serious moonlight, so this is what I came up with:

Portraiture is not my strong suit, and drawing in pen can feel a bit daring since you can’t erase any stray marks, but I enjoyed doing this one.

Materials: Staedtler triplus fineliner, Prismacolor markers.

Sketchbook Peek: Backpack Brigade

Posted by melydia on January 6, 2016 1 comments

It was Friday morning and it was too early to leave for the gym yet, so I did a very quick sketch of all the bags I take with me that day: one for work, one for the gym, and one for my laptop to take to a write-in after work. Despite rushing through, and not coloring it until later that day, I was still late for the gym. Figures.

Sketchcrawl: Smithsonian

Posted by melydia on January 5, 2016 None comments

I met up with the DC Urban Sketchers group on the day after Christmas to do a little drawing at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. We met by the elephant in the foyer, drew that, then split up for an hour or so. I visited the T. Rex and the mammals hall briefly – an hour isn’t as much time to draw as I thought! Ordinarily I would have scanned in each page separately but I liked how this spread looked across both pages:

After lunch, I set off on my own to the National Gallery of Art to draw a few statues. This possibly Milanese helmet is the only drawing I care to share, though. The others turned out…not so great.

Draw Tommy Kane

Posted by melydia on September 30, 2015 1 comments

Tommy Kane, one of the teachers of Sketchbook Skool, is someone whose work I find profoundly inspiring. He has an ongoing project called Draw Tommy Kane, where a bunch of folks draw the same photo of Mr. Kane. It’s neat to see all the different styles, and I like my own contribution enough to feel proud to be among the ranks.

Sketchbook Peek: Bonsai

Posted by melydia on September 29, 2015 None comments

I visited the National Arboretum with a friend and was enchanted by the bonsai exhibit. Alas, I am still not quite comfortable sketching while someone is sitting next to me not doing anything else, so I rushed these. Still, it was a pleasant (if rather too warm) day.

Deluxe Unlimited

Posted by melydia on September 28, 2015 None comments

Deluxe Unlimited is one of those artists that I love and yet have difficulty describing. It’s handmade collage from vintage sources with clever and/or thought-provoking results. During a recent trip to Vermont, I happened upon some postcards from recent shows, so I made a little sorta-collage page of my own. Definitely worth checking out.Â For more recent works, visit Deluxe Unlimited on Facebook

Sketchbook Peek: Lighting

Posted by melydia on August 22, 2015 None comments

This is the ugly light fixture that hangs over our kitchen table. Beyond you can see the not-ugly-enough-to-remove border around the ceiling, and a couple of the black-and-white movie stills we have hung on the walls from all three Star Wars, all three Indiana Jones, and Labyrinth. I drew this from the living room couch.

Sketchbook Peek: Beverage

Posted by melydia on August 21, 2015 None comments

I was at a friend’s house for crafty night and she made this surprisingly delicious punch from white sangria, Sam Adams Summer Ale, Sprite, and strawberries.

Urban Sketching: Dupont Underground

Posted by melydia on August 19, 2015 None comments

DC Urban Sketcher Guido was kind enough to organize a visit to the Dupont Underground. It was a streetcar station until the 1960s, and save for a failed food court in the 1990s, it’s been unused ever since. It’s currently under construction with plans to become an art gallery and other interesting space, but we were allowed down there for two hours to draw.

It’s really nifty down there. Filthy and with terrible lighting, but still cool as hell. Most of my companions drew amazing shadowed landscapes. I drew little stuff: